"She sustained an extremely serious wound to the left wrist and underwent surgery (Sunday) night," Cheek said. "Everything indicates it was just a freak accident. She apparently sleeps with a weapon under her pillow, and somehow it discharged.

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"She was by herself at the time. There is no indication that anything other than what she said happened."

The incident is being investigated by county police since it happened in their jurisdiction. The Albany Police Department is conducting an internal investigation.

Both Cheek and Albany police stressed the importance of gun safety in the wake of the accident.

"We train on gun safety and we stress gun safety, but even the people who handle guns for a living, accidents happen," Cheek said. "We just stress that firearms are not toys, and even people experienced with firearms occasionally have accidents."